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The line between assisting someone and taking the act out of that persons hands is a fine one

Stephen McGowan, Crown Office

The Bill says the final act must be carried out by the person seeking to end their own life. But Professor Alison Britton, of the Law Society of Scotland, said a definition of assisting suicide was needed, especially in cases where someone had become too ill to end their life.

She told MSPs: “We need to be very clear what actually this assistance encompasses, and we need to be also clear at what point is there a demarcation where assistance is being given and that actually crosses over to being complicit in homicide.”

Prosecutor Stephen McGowan, representing the Crown Office, said: “The line between assisting someone and taking the act out of that persons hands is a fine one.

“The key part of this is, there is no definition of what assistance actually is and what it is to assist someone in suicide.”

Detective Chief Superintendent Gary Flannigan, of Police Scotland, added: “Any confusion is likely to lead to a police investigation, which I think most people would seek to avoid.”